The Manager Merry-Go-Round Begins: First Stop Wolfsburg

Wolfsburg has issued an official statement saying that Felix Magath will leave the club on June 30th of this year. Magath is bound for Schalke as has been rumored all week, although we still await confirmation from the Gelsenkirchen side.

While many claims have been made by the press about Magath’s salary demands, it wasn’t the salary as much as the recession that caused this move. Volkswagon, like all car makers, are facing tough times and are being forced to lay off workers. With a tightening of the belt at the renowned car maker, it wasn’t possible for VW to eliminate jobs and then pay large sums for football players. That’s unfortunate when you have the only English-style gaffer in the league and he has a transfer policy that would put Harry Redknapp to shame. While in charge of the Wolves for only two seasons, Magath has amassed 30+ transactions in what is essentially 18 months. While there is no arguing with his method and one can see he has an eye for talent (Gentner, Dzeko, Grafite, Misomivic), his ability to continue tweaking his team was done.

With rumors that Grafite and Dzeko were being lined up by uber-rich Zenit and Arsenal, respectively, it seems there may have been some truth to these links as the club were seeking to cash in. Magath realizing that he wouldn’t be able to significantly alter his club in its first campaign in the Champions League, decided to move on to a club where transfers wouldn’t be an issue. The salary was just a shot across the bow to set this series of events in motion.

Schalke, and not Bayern, will be the big spenders this summer. Can Magath do for them, what he has done for Wolfsburg? I imagine so.

3 Responses to The Manager Merry-Go-Round Begins: First Stop Wolfsburg

I had read that Magath will take on the dual roles he is currently holding at Wolfsburg. Not sure if it is true because, Stuttgart general manager Horst Heldt had been linked with a move to Wolfsburg. Even as a Stuttgart supporter, I am confused with what is going on. I can just imagine this weekend when both Stuttgart and Wolfsburg meet in the league, there will be backlash from the fans…probably the Wolfsburg ones.

Speaking of Bayern, the latest from Uli Hoeness…according to a report from the kicker magazine, Hoeness had said that a decision in regards to the coaching search will be make by the beginning or the middle of next week. And this also come at a time when I read with the news out of Holland also today that, the man who is the strong favourite to be the new Bayern coach in Louis van Gaal will be having his final training session with his players at AZ Alkmaar on Monday.

We will know everything by next week. *cue dramatic music*

I have to say, when I first read that Louis van Gaal is among the candidates, I was having mixed feelings. Apart from the trophies he won when he was coaching Ajax and Barcelona, his personality had also divided people. I admit the time when Ajax won the CL in 1995 when he was the coach, I was seven-going on-eight and so I don’t know much until trying to read up what happened back then of late. Because the last time I remembered knowing vaguely about the ’95 CL final was when I used to watch a documentary of Ajax about a year or so ago. My goodness, I think back then van Gaal was among those being interviewed in the documentary I watched! But then I am not sure what his interview was about though, even as someone like me who had always been fascinated about Ajax. Damn. it.

This coming as someone whose father had always been a big fan of Ajax legend Johan Cruyff in his playing days. That was how my fascination with Ajax began.